Prannoy enters semis, becomes first Indian in 41 years to medal in men's singles

HS Prannoy battled his way to the Asian Games 2023 semifinals becoming only the first Indian in 41 years to win a badminton medal in mens singles at the tournament but it was curtains for PV Sindhu in womens singles on ThursdayPlaying with a taping on his lower back and a belt under his shirt Prannoy battled severe back spasm to dish out a performance for the ages outshining Malaysias Lee Zii Jia 2116 2123 2220 in the quarterfinals to assure India a second badminton medal at the ongoing GamesIndia had won a silver in mens team championships last SundayI think it was a really tough one out there I think Lee is always a tough opponent It was a very physical match today for me Prannoy said after the matchIm not at all in a condition where I could say Im 80 per cent right But I think to pull off something like this I would give a lot of credit to myself I think the will to fight was always there So I think that paid offAfter fighting his way through a marathon 78 minute contest the 31yearold from Kerala fell on the court in disbelief He then removed his shirt fistpumped and ran into the arms of chief coach Pullela GopichandPrannoy thus ended Indias long wait for a mens singles medal at the Asian Games with Syed Modi winning the first a bronze at the 1982 edition in New DelhiThe world championships bronze medallist was ruled out of team championships final due to the back injury as India went down 23 to China to settle for a silverWhile it was ecstacy for Prannoy Sindhu had to endure the pain of returning without a medal for the first time in nine years after she lost 1621 1221 to world No5 Chinese He Bingjiao in 47 minutes to bow out of the competitionAlso Read Asian Games 2023 Sunil Kumar clinches Indias first Greco Roman medal since 2010Prannoy displayed his mental fortitude as he rallied his way from a 511 deficit to grab the opening game and then had two match points in the second only to see it slip awayBut Prannoy quickly wiped the slate clean and once again fought his way back in the decider saved two match points with his booming smashes and deceptions to register a great victoryPrannoy had beaten Lee a former All England Champion at the Badminton Asia Championships in Dubai but he didnt have a good startHowever the Indian managed to erase a sixpoint deficit at the break to grab four game points with Lee faltering with his length and going long and wide He converted at the first chancePrannoy used his drops and deceptions to vary the pace of the rallies and lead 74 before taking a two point lead at interval Lee fought his way to a 1513 lead before the Indian regained his lead with three successive points and soon stood just two points away from a win at 2018However a couple of net cords went the Malaysians way as Lee drew level and earned a game point at 2221 He took the match to the decider after Prannoy found the netPrannoy lagged 24 early in the third game He then tried to prolong the rallies with deep tosses but he lacked the finishing often hitting the net or wide as Lee lead 74However he once again scripted a recovery to claw back at 88 before Lee committed few unforced errors as the Indian lead 1110 at the breakA perfect net shot after a long rally took Prannoy to 1310 Two deep smashes on both sides took him to 1513 But Lee kept breathing down his neck and made it 1616Struggling with his back Prannoy then called for a medical time out for applying magic sprayOn resumption Lee stepped up the pace and unleashed a body smash and another smash on Prannoys backhand to pull awayA long rally ensued at 1819 as Lee came up with a smash to gain two match points Prannoy then sent two accurate cross hits to make it 2020 He then gained one match point and converted with another precise smashEarlier in the day twotime Olympic medallist Sindhu who had won bronze and silver medals respectively in 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games couldnt produced the goods against Bingjiao whom she had defeated to win the bronze at the Tokyo OlympicsThe first game started on a even keel between the two players as both shared points till sixall before Bingjiao took a 95 leadSindhu struggled with her court coverage as Bingjiao made the Indian run the entire court and sealed the points with accurate placements and smashes to seal the first game easily in 23 minutesHer struggle continued in the next game as Bingjiao took a 51 leadThe star Indian shuttlers returns were short and Bingjiao made no mistake in closing out the points with pinpoint smashesSindhu showed some fight initially in the second game to close the gap at 89 with four straight points before the Chineses took control of the game and raced to 128 leadSindhu was nowhere to be seen thereafter and looked to have surrendered as Bingjiao closed out the game and match in quick timeWith agency inputs